turtledovefandomcom-20200216-history
German Emperor
The emperor (German: Kaiser) was the head of state of German Empire (Kaiserreich) from 1871, the unification of Germany, to 1918, when Wilhelm II was forced to abdicate during World War I. There were three emperors in that time: Wilhelm I, Friedrich III, and Wilhelm II, all members of the House of Hohenzollern. The emperor also doubled as the King of Prussia (and took his numerical title from its kings as well, hence Friedrich III), as well as the president of the federated monarchies (the kings of Bavaria, Württemberg, Saxony, the grand dukes of Baden, Mecklenburg, Hesse, as well as other principalities, duchies and of the free cities of Hamburg, Lübeck and Bremen). This article lists the known emperors found in the works of Harry Turtledove after the Point of Divergence in alternate history, or known emperors found in works of science fiction. Emperors who served before the POD of a given alternate history who are mentioned in passing do not need to be listed here. Stories set in OTL may reference past emperors, or even the sitting emperor, but unless these works are explicitly speculative or science fiction, they do not belong here. ''Curious Notions'' In "Alternate 3477" as designated by Crosstime Traffic, Germany won the equivalent of World War I, and the Kaiser eventually became the de facto ruler of the world, which remained true well into the 21st century. Note Much of this is deductive based on OTL knowledge. The only ahistorical Kaiser referenced by name is Wilhelm IV, whose biography and chronology are never discussed. However, the presence of his statue in San Francisco, which Germany conquered in 1956, is a strong indicator that he was reigning during that conquest. That there was a Wilhelm IV implies that a Wilhelm III did reign at some point. In 1914, when the break-point from the home timeline occurred, Crown Prince Wilhelm was expected to reign one day as Wilhelm III. His son, Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, would therefore have reigned as Wilhelm IV, and likely would have been on the throne in 1956. Therefore, the wiki administrators consider this proposed chronology to be within the bounds of reason. Southern Victory Under the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Germany soundly defeated the Entente in the Great War and emerged as the dominant power in Europe. Wilhelm's death and the ascension of his son helped trigger the Second Great War, but again, Germany emerged victorious, and Wilhelm III reigned over a victorious Germany and a more precarious peace. Note Friedrich III is not mentioned in Southern Victory, nor any known Harry Turtledove work, but the Point of Divergence should not have affected his reign. The identity of Wilhelm II's successor is open to some debate; see here and here for the reasons supporting the moderators' decision to refer to him as Wilhelm III. Other Emperors In addition to the above, Kaiser Wilhelm II reigns in 1929 in the short work "Uncle Alf", which is set in a world where the German Empire won the Great War of 1914 and become the most powerful nation in Europe. This is a different world from the one depicted in Curious Notions. In Through Darkest Europe, an unnamed German Emperor reigns over all of the kingdoms, principalities, and archbishoprics of Germany in the early 21st century. He has no real power, however. See Also *Führer of the Greater German Reich, the office Adolf Hitler held in his capacity of the head of state and government of Germany from 1934 to 1945. Harry Turtledove has created several lines of Führer in multiple works. * Category:Titles Category:Curious Notions Category:Southern Victory